Delcroix Academy: The Candidates by Inara Scott

Summary/Cover Image from Author's Website:

Dancia Lewis is far from popular. And that’s not just because of her average grades or her less-than-glamorous wardrobe. In fact, Dancia’s mediocrity is a welcome cover for her secret: whenever she sees a person threatening someone she cares about, things just … happen. Cars skid. Structures collapse. Usually someone gets hurt. So Dancia does everything possible to avoid getting close to people, believing this way she can suppress her powers and keep them hidden.

When recruiters from the prestigious Delcroix Academy offer her a full scholarship, Dancia fears her days of living under the radar may be over. But Delcroix is a school for diplomats’ kids and child geniuses — why are they treating Dancia like she’s special? Even the hottest guy on campus seems to be going out of his way to make her feel welcome. And then there’s her mysterious new friend Jack, who can’t stay out of trouble. He suspects something dangerous is going on at Delcroix, and he wants Dancia to help him figure out what…But neither Jack or Dancia could have imagined what’s really going on behind the gates of Delcroix Academy.

Review:

I love books that take place at boarding schools (Private, anyone?) so when I first heard about the Delcroix Academy series I knew I had to read it! Thankfully, Delcroix Academy: The Candidates proved to be a fun, fast paced addition to boarding school YA. And to make things even better, it had a touch of paranormal as well!

The Candidates tells the tale of Dancia Lewis, a girl hiding a deep, dark secret, one that if it exposed could change her whole life. You see, if she sees someone who's going to be injured or killed, she can just stop everything. And because this power has only left chaos in the past, she decides that in order to protect everyone, it's best to blend into the background. That is until she get accepted into Delcroix Academy, the ritziest private school around. And as it turns out, Delcroix is like nothing Dancia has ever experienced before. She's making friends, has caught the eyes of two of the cutest boys on campus, and has even joined a sports team, but even she can't suppress the feeling that there's something odd about Delcroix and its students, especially when her friend Jack discovers some pretty deep secrets. But is Dancia willing to get everything up and more importantly is Jack telling the truth? Only time will tell in this great addition to paranormal YA.

Dancia was a character I liked from the instant I "meet" her in the first chapter. And while I wanted to shake her on the shoulders sometimes for being distant, I understood why she was that way. And making this better, I especially liked how over the novel she began to grow into a better person, one who was social and never backed down from a the task at hand. I also enjoyed reading about her friendship with Hennie and Esther. They were always funny together and reminded me of my friends and me during our freshman year of high school. And as always, I really enjoyed the romantic triangle Inara placed in this, because it constantly had me curious about who Dancia would end up with and if I would truly be happy with the guy she picked.

The plot of this was also a high point of the novel because it constantly brought drama and suspense and twist and turns to the book. The one aspect I enjoyed the most was the setting because it always brought a mysterious feeling to the book.

Scott's writing was decent as well. I thought she did a great job at creating the plot and characters. Though, I didn't always enjoy how the book would stall every once in a while.

In all, Delcroix Academy: The Candidates is a great beginning to a series I'm sure I'll enjoy even more as time goes on and more additions come out, and most importantly, I'm really, really looking forward to reading the Delcroix Academy: The Watchers, which comes out next year!

Grade: B

Delcroix Academy: The Candidates is now out.

Source: Publicist at Hyperion. Thanks, Atoosa!